For the next sixteen years Gabriel lived the life of a common town boy, oblivious to the dangers past the town line and of the events of his true family. In his mind Garret was his one and only father, and Sienna his mother. Life was far from idyllic. They had the same hardships as any other, but for Gabriel, he had everything he could want. A family that loves and cares for him, friends, a safe place to live and a girl that held Gabriel's attentions like no other. Her name was Lucy, the daughter of the town doctor and fellow classmate of Gabriel's. From the first day he saw her he was bewitched, he knew there would never be another. The only problem was she didn't appear to feel the same way. Instead, she favoured another boy of their age, Kai, the up-and-coming champion of the town. From the age of four he'd been trained in the way of the sword so that one day he might be skilled enough to be recruited among the ranks of the Order of Michael.

An Order commissioned almost a century ago by the then King Ambridge to protect the forgotten and abandoned parts of the Kingdom up in the north, a thousand of miles away from the Crowns seat of power. The Order are an elite force of trained warriors, every few years they sent scouts to nearby villages in search of fresh recruits. It's a great honour to be recruited and ensures that the families of members will be taken care of for the rest of their lives. But only the best are offered a place among their ranks, several trials must be endured to even be granted a probationary place in the Order.

Gabriel, Kai and Lucy had been close friends for as long as they could remember, long before any romantic feelings were on any of their minds. They were an inseparable group, playing from daybreak till the setting sun every day as children. But as they grew and began to see each other in new ways, Lucy's favouring of Kai embittered Gabriel's relationship with them. This led to what should have been a lifelong friendship had instead turned into a bitter rivalry between Gabriel and Kai. Anything the one did the other had to match and outmatch. Kai joined the young rangers, so Gabriel followed and together they learned how to hunt game, forage for nuts, fruits and berries, and above all else how to survive alone out in the wild. Part of this training involved learning to use a sword and bow. Kai flourished thanks to his being trained from a young age, while Gabriel struggled to keep up. Kai took great pleasure in being paired with Gabriel for sparring, knowing he was better and could take the opportunity to hurt him with impunity, and Gabriel was too proud to ever back down even while knowing he was no match for Kai.

The first time they sparred together Kai broke Gabriel's nose and cracked more than a few of his ribs. The second time some months later he gave Gabriel a concussion and broke two of his fingers in his left hand. After the third and final time, and several stitched wounds and set bones, they were separated into different ranging groups. Lucy, caught in the middle between two of her best friends, was sympathetic to Gabriel, but to him it came off as little more than pity. Feeling deeply hurt beyond words by what he saw as his humiliation and rejection by Lucy, he told her to stay away from him.

A year passed with the only contact between Gabriel and the two being nothing more than passing glances as they crossed path from time to time. The rifts being furthered by the two becoming a couple in the intervening time. The Order of Michael had once been Kai's dream, but when word came that a scout would be arriving in a few months' time, the idea of leaving home to start something new appealed to Gabriel. Escaping his simple life and those that were a constant reminder of what he could never have gave Gabriel a focus he had never had before.

His parents took the news badly, to them the Order would only mean death for Gabriel. "They can only offer you one thing, a short and violent life that can only end one way, in an equally violent death." They pleaded with him to reconsider. "Perhaps, but father, were you not the one that told me what an honour it is to be a member, 'a noble sacrifice for the betterment of all', that's what you told me."

"But that isn't why you want this." Sienna could always see through Gabriel's lies and half-truths, "it's the girl, isn't it? You haven't been the same since- "

"Since Kai beat me half to death while her and all the others watched with pitiful eyes," he interrupted in a bitter tone. "The poor, weak patriarch's son letting himself get pummelled trying to impress a girl that doesn't see him as anything beyond a friend." Gabriel let out a sigh, speaking of what happened was almost as bad as experiencing it again. He crossed his arms and leaned over the balcony overlooking the town, unable to imagine his life in it anymore. "I can't stay here and watch them live a life that I dreamed of having with her since I could remember. The idea of it is unbearable."

The touch of his mother's hand wrapping around his arm helped lessen Gabriel's troubled thoughts, they didn't speak anymore on the subject that night.

The next few weeks seemed to pass in an instant, preparation for the scouts' arrival had begun and the whole town was in a frenzy trying to get everything ready in time. One of the sheep fields was repurposed and landscaped to be used in the trial's the chosen participants will have to complete. The young men with the best chance of being chosen to participate, Kai, Gabriel, and two others; Tomas and Henrik, were being treated like royalty by the town folk. Their clothes were cleaned and cared for, food from the market was given to them freely, and the blacksmith forged each of them their own swords. Everywhere he went Gabriel received smiles and encouragement, everywhere except at home. His parents were still hoping he'd reconsider. He hated the resentment he was beginning to feel towards them for how they were acting, all the encouragement from the town felt hollow without his parents' approval. It wasn't all easy living for the hopeful few, the price of all the extras they were receiving was paid in full in their training. They began rising before dawn to spar for hours each morning before being sent out to hunt for food for the whole town. Each day they were given a quota to fill and were told not return till they'd filled it even if it took them all day and night to do it. And each day was different, some days Gabriel had to catch enough animals to feed three families for the next two days, other days he was picking nuts and berries or sent down to the river to catch fish. Each night he returned home exhausted to find his parents waiting up for him, always with the same worried and disapproving look on their faces. After a while he stopped trying to convince them to accept his wishes and stopped talking to them entirely, it made things easier. His busy schedule also meant he saw much less of Lucy around town but with the unfortunate caveat that he now saw a lot more of Kai. The animosity between them was still going strong even from a distance, Gabriel overheard him talking with Tomas about him one day before training began. He was furious about Gabriel's sudden desire to join the Order, suggesting his only reason for doing so was to get back at him or perhaps to try and sabotage Kai's chances of getting in. Their rivalry was put on hold, however. They both agreed to keep their distance until the trial's and let the best man win.

At least that's what Gabriel thought. Until one afternoon while he was out picking berries for his daily gathering, he noticed that he was being followed. It was subtle at first, a feeling of being watched, movement in the bushes, the sounds of cracking twigs just out of sight, this went on for a while. He wasn't sure at first, so he purposefully went away from his usual area just to be certain. Then as the noises stopped and he began to think he was just being foolish, an arrow went flying past him, hitting a tree close behind him. When he turned to see who was shooting at him, expecting Kai, to his surprise he saw Henrik. The arrows were wooden and the bow was a practice one, not strong enough to even break the bark on the tree. So, he wasn't trying to kill Gabriel it seemed, possibly just wound him to get him out of the way before the trials. All Gabriel had to fight back with was his hunting knife, they weren't permitted to take their steel swords out hunting with them and he hadn't taken a bow because he knew he wouldn't be hunting that day. They were on a hill. Henrik had the high ground and Gabriel stuck with having to avoid his arrows while running up hill. He dropped his bag of nuts and berries and started running towards Henrik, swerving between the trees to avoid his onslaught of arrows. When he had closed the distance between them, Tomas suddenly appeared charging at him from his right with his wooden practice sword in-hand. He swung at Gabriel, just missing him as Gabriel dropped and rolled to his side. He got onto one foot and knee when Tomas' next swing came, he stopped it with his knife as it came down above his head. The force of the swing dug the knife deep into the wooden sword. They were stuck in place for a few moments as each of them struggled to push back against the other. Gabriel finally came out victorious, bigger and stronger, pushing Tomas back enough to get back to a standing position. He pushed the sword to the side and clumsily elbowed Tomas in the face as he did it, and as Tomas stumbled back, he hit him again several times with the butt of his knife till he lost his balance and fell back. Henrik came running down the hill to aid Tomas, barely holding himself steady as he did so on the steep downhill slope. When he came close enough to Gabriel he stretched out his arm to try and hit him with the bow. Gabriel narrowly avoided it and used Henrik's momentum to direct him into a nearby tree. He hit it at full speed and was sent tumbling to the ground clutching his temple. Tomas was trying to get back up while Gabriel was distracted, he turned back to him and kicked him across the face, putting him onto his back once again. Gabriel then kicked the sword from his hand, disarming him and knelt over him, pressing his knee into Tomas' chest. "Why did you do this? For what reason?" Gabriel demanded but Tomas was too beaten to answer. The sound of tightening string caused him to hold his knife to Tomas' throat before he warned Henrik, "put it down, Henrik, unless you want to watch Tomas bleed out right in front of you." He spoke without turning, in case Henrik took his movement as a threat.

"You won't do it, how would you explain yourself when you got back to town?" Henrik said confidently, sure that he had Gabriel.

"How will you?"

"I won't have to, you're not going to report us, it's not your way. I bet you'd rather we get away with it and wait till you can deal with us yourself. Am I wrong?"

"Exactly the opposite I would say. But what's to stop me dealing with Tomas right now," Gabriel replied as he dug the blade point against Tomas jugular until he squealed.

Gabriel could hear the string tightening even more, "you do that and they'll never find your body."

"You sure that bow or arrow is strong enough for a killing shot?" Gabriel wasn't sure how far Henrik was willing to go, or himself for that matter.

"From this range, I'm fairly certain," Henrik replied with feigned confidence, yet his voice wavered, betraying him.

"You had better be more than fairly certain. You better have absolutely no doubt in your mind that you can kill me with that arrow in your hand. Because if you can't...if I'm still alive after you loose it on me, you won't live long enough to knock another." Gabriel hoped his own voice wasn't quivering as much as Henrik's.

The lack of response made Gabriel hopeful that Henrik was considering what he was saying so he continued. "But if you put down the bow and arrow, I'll take this knife from Tomas' throat, and we can all just pretend this never happened. Doesn't that sound like a better outcome?"

"What's to stop you from killing him the moment I put it down... And-and then killing me, too?" his voice was clearly shaking with worry now.

"I'm not the one that started this, you two were. And in doing so you both proved yourselves untrustworthy, so this transaction is not going to hinge on me trusting you. It's going to be on you trusting me." Gabriel's anger was clear and the exposed position he was in was waning on his patience very quickly. He spoke as calmly and determined as he could, emulating his father as he gave Henrik an ultimatum. "Henrik, this is your last chance, if you don't put that bow down right now there's no going back. Make your choice, make it now."

Gabriel began to count to five in his head, after which he was prepared to fight for his life. The next few seconds felt like hours as he took a deep breath with the knife shaking in his hand, he willed himself the strength to do what he must. Just as he reached four, he heard the arrow loosen, and shaken, the adrenaline drove him to press down on Tomas' neck just enough to draw blood, until realising that the arrow wasn't shot at him, he pulled the knife away. Next, he heard was the sound of the bow being tossed away, he turned to look at Henrik now disarmed and for a moment to his surprise and shame was considering killing him. Saw the steps he could take to get to him and deliver the blow before he could react. The ease and relief it would bring him. The moment passed and reason won out, and he took the knife completely away from Tomas' neck and stood up. He walked over to Henrik as he sat on his knee's staring up at him in shock of what almost happened. "You made the right choice, Henrik," Gabriel told him before kneeing him in the face, knocking him out.

As Gabriel began making his way back down the hill to his bag, he found himself struggling to breath and had to stop and lean on a tree to support his shaking legs. His vision was blurry and he was sweating profusely as he struggled for breath. The sound of his pounding heartbeat was the only thing he could hear now. He clutched his chest with his hand, praying for whatever was happening to him to pass. He became overwhelmingly afraid of everything around him. Every movement sent a surge of terror down his spine. He closed his eyes to block everything out and focused only on his breathing. After finally managing to get a few full breaths in and out, Gabriel felt himself getting back to normal. He opened his eyes and his vision slowly became clear again as his heartbeat slowed. He took a minute to be sure the attack had passed before pushing off the tree and walking the last few steps to his bag. When he knelt to pick it up it became clear to him who was really behind Tomas and Henrik going after him. He collected the last of the supplies he needed before heading back to town to hand it in and then headed over to the tavern.

The room was filled with people, the celebrations for the scouts' arrival had begun a few weeks early, and everyone was drinking and cheering. As Gabriel made his way through the crowded tavern, he passed a sad looking Lucy heading the opposite way. She looked surprised to see him "Gabriel?! Wha- "

"where is he?" Gabriel said, cutting her off with the barely contained rage clear in his voice. He saw her eyes look to a table behind her, Gabriel pushed through a group of people, ignoring Lucy as she asked him what was wrong.

"Kai! KAI!" Gabriel shouted as he finally set his eyes on him, interrupting what must have been a funny joke one of the people he was drinking with had just told, as they were all in the middle of laughing themselves silly. Gabriel's call drew Kai attention to him, he stood and called Gabriel's name, confused, just as Gabriel was within reach of him. The moment he was close enough, Gabriel let out his rage and smacked Kai across the face. He punched him again as he stumbled back and was going for a third when Kai blocked it and gut punched Gabriel and swiftly followed it up with a head-butt to the face. As Gabriel stepped back someone behind him grabbed him, by the arm, trying to restrain him. He turned and punched the person away, not caring who it was, and as he turned Kai punched him hard in the face, knocking him back and onto a table, spilling the drinks. This drew the anger of the people sitting there, they all got to their feet and began throwing punches at Gabriel, and Kai too. Before long the whole tavern had erupted into an all-out brawl with Gabriel and Kai trading blows in the middle of it all. They each got hits in but were stopped short of either getting a decisive victory over the other when the owner finally got everyone to stop. Both Gabriel and Kai were then literally dragged and thrown out of the tavern by the others. As they picked themselves up and wiped the mud from the ground off them, Kai demanded answers. "What the fuck was that? The only way you think you can win is jumping me when my backs turned, eh?"

"I could say the same about you?" Gabriel spat back at him.

"What in gods' name are you talking about?"

"You'd rather send your lackeys to take me out of the running than face me yourself!"

"My lackeys?"

"TOMAS AND HENRIK," Gabriel shouted, sick of Kai's playing dumb. "They attacked me in the woods while I was picking berries, they damn nearly killed me."

"What does that have to do with me?" Kai asked still confused.

"Do not play games with me, I heard you speaking with Tomas, telling him how I'm only doing all this to sabotage your chances of joining the Order. So, do not tell me you were not involved in this," Gabriel was feeling just about ready to charge at Kai again.

"Do you really think I'd do that, hurt you - kill you.... just to increase my chances. Gabriel, we've known each other all our lives. You can't possibly believe I'd do that to you," the look of hurt in Kai's face, Gabriel was becoming less certain.

"It's not like you haven't done it in every other way possible already," Gabriel said as he searched for certainty.

"Lucy," Kai let out an exasperated sigh, "we're back to this again?"

"You knew how I felt about her, and you took her anyway."

"I didn't take her, Gabriel! She's not some damsel to be stolen, she chose me," he tilted his head and let out a puff of air, "was that what this was really about? You make up this story about being attacked in the woods so you have a reason to come after me because you still - still can't get over the fact that she chose me over you."

"You think too highly of yourself. I need no more reasons. You've given me plenty. Maybe you did orchestrate this whole thing, maybe you didn't, either way. It doesn't change anything. I'm still going to best you at the trials."

Kai let out a long sigh and replying, "we'll see about that," before turning and walking away from Gabriel.

As he did the same, Gabriel spotted Lucy watching from the shadows. He looked at her for a moment before turning away and walking home without a word.